Whiskey Rebellion (Romantic Mystery/Comedy) Book 1 (Addison Holmes Mysteries)

school, and it’s not like this place is costing you a lot to live in.” Kate looked around at the crumbling walls and warped floors, obviously not impressed with anything she saw. “I guess your car payment is probably pretty hefty, but it’s a sexy car. You’ve got an image to maintain after all.”
    “Yeah, and I have the speeding tickets to prove it,” I said, more depressed than ever. Leave it to Kate to paraphrase my life in just a few seconds. “There’s a vacant house for sale on Hutton Street I want to buy, but I don’t have enough yet for the full down payment. I paid an initial five thousand dollars just to get things started. I’ve done all the paperwork and assured John Hyatt at the bank that I’d have the rest of the money by the end of sixty days.”
    “That’s not a lot of time,” Kate said.
    “Thanks for reminding me. I appreciate the help.”
    I was an idiot for thinking I could get that much money in such a short period of time. My eye twitched so I grabbed another beer from the fridge and pressed it to my lid to relieve the pressure.
    The great thing about living in a small town is that institutions like banks make certain allowances that most big mortgage companies never would. Like not making sure I actually had enough money before allowing me to purchase a house. It’s a love-hate situation, because John Hyatt, the bank president, also has a bad habit of telling everyone in town how much you qualify for and what kind of shape your checking account is in. I’m one of those people who live paycheck to paycheck. I might live in a dump, but my car is new and I always have good shoes. There are worse things in life.
    “It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell John Hyatt you’d be able to get the rest of the money that soon,” Kate said. “You know how he has that superiority complex and likes to make sure the little people know where they belong. He’ll make up a horrible story about you and spread it around town if you don’t keep your word. Remember when that awful rumor about Mary Gantz went around? He told everyone she’d defaulted on her car loan because she was paying so much in medical bills to treat a stubborn case of gonorrhea.”
    “ He started that rumor?” I asked, shocked. “She’s still in therapy over the scandal it caused. What a horrible man.”
    “Exactly my point. Don’t cross John Hyatt. How much are you short?”
    “About five thousand dollars, which is why I need another job.”
    “If you need one that badly, I could let you do some surveillance work for me at the agency. We’re a little overburdened at the moment. Adultery and fraud are up this month.”
    Kate had been a police officer for two years before deciding she wasn’t a team player, so she quit and opened her own private investigations office between Whiskey Bayou and Savannah.
    The McClean Agency was one of the most popular in all Georgia. Kate had kept friendly relations with her contacts in the police department, and she still got to carry a gun. Sometimes I was a little jealous of the gun. It made her look really cool and important whenever we went out to dinner somewhere. All I ever got to carry around was a bunch of ungraded term papers.
    “I’m glad business is good for you,” I said, perking up at the thought that someone else’s misfortune could be money in my pocket. “What would I have to do?”
    “It’s a pretty easy job. I’ll give you some files on the people we’ve been hired to investigate and you follow them around and take pictures. You’re not licensed so you can’t meet with clients and you’ll have to keep accurate records so I can write the reports. We’ll put you on the payroll as an independent contractor and pay you a hundred dollars a night. You only have to make sure the targets don’t see you.”
    “A hundred dollars a night! I bet Mattress Mattie doesn’t make a hundred dollars a night.”
    “Mattress Mattie doesn’t have teeth, Addison. I don’t think you can compare the two.”
    “Whatever. I’ll take the job. If I do work for you in the evenings and eat Top Ramen for every meal, I might just be able to pull this off. This is great. Thanks.”
    “What are friends for? Stop by the office after school tomorrow and you can fill out the paperwork.”
    I was going to be the best employee the McClean Agency had ever seen. Sam Spade would be no more than a name by the time Addison Holmes had made her mark. The sigh must have tipped Kate